Number of species:
This month: 28
Tuesday 31 March 2009
Common Oak Purple - Eriocrania subpurpurella
Brindled Beauty - Lycia hirtaria
Grey Shoulder-knot - Lithophane ornitopus lactipennis
Weather: Clear start, clouding over, coolish, 6°C, dry, little or no wind.
Ah-ha! back on track, not quite the heights of last week but an entirely new species and two first records for the year have made for a pretty satisfactory way to end the month. The new species is, I’m pretty certain, Common Oak Purple and the two first for the year are a Brindled Beauty and a Grey Shoulder-knot.
Eriocraniidae
- 1 Common Oak Purple Eriocrania subpurpurella Haw.
Geometridae
- 1 Brindled Beauty Lycia hirtaria Cl.
- 1 Oak Beauty Biston strataria Hufn.
Noctuidae
- 33 Small Quaker Orthosia cruda D. & S.
- 11 Common Quaker Orthosia cerasi D. & S.
- 3 Clouded Drab Orthosia incerta D. & S.
- 4 Hebrew Character Orthosia gothica Linn.
- 1 Grey Shoulder-knot Lithophane ornitopus ssp. lactipennis Dadd
- 4 Early Grey Xylocampa areola Esp.
- 1 Satellite Eupsilia transversa Hufn.
Sunday 29 - Monday 30 March 2009
Two poor nights on th trot threatened to make the end of March a bit of a washout.
Saturday 28 March 2009
Weather: Mainly clear but also showery, cold, 3°C, windy.
It would have been hard to have topped Thursday’s showing and unsurprisingly, last night didn’t get anywhere close. The forecast for the next few days is for cold clear nights so I guess it’ll be a little while before Thursday’s catch is matched.
Geometridae
- 1 Oak Beauty Biston strataria Hufn.
Noctuidae
- 8 Small Quaker Orthosia cruda D. & S.
- 16 Common Quaker Orthosia cerasi D. & S.
- 2 Hebrew Character Orthosia gothica Linn.
- 2 Early Grey Xylocampa areola Esp.
Friday 27 March 2009
Too cold and windy.
Thursday 26 March 2009
Variable Smudge - Ypsolopha ustella
Double-striped Pug - Gymnoscelis rufifasciata
Dotted Chestnut - Conistra rubiginea
Weather: Clear at first becoming overcast with occasional light rain, 7°C, windy.
The point has finally arrived where this lumbering behemoth (how appropriate a description is that?) of a website stumbles its way into year three. Happy birthday to it!
There could be few better ways to mark the occasion than with a new species to add to the list, well, maybe two new species. The first new species that we’ve recorded for nearly four months. Not only that but one is listed as nationally scarce, a Dotted Chestnut, the other is the rather enigmatically named Variable Smudge and almost undoubtedly the same as "one that got away" back on 15 March. Other than these very fine highlights we had the first Pug of the year, a Double-striped Pug, which I don’t believe is what I saw the night before, that one was bigger I’m sure. Seven families, sixteen species and one hundred and eighteen moths - not a bad celebration!
Yponomeutidae
- 1 Variable Smudge Ypsolopha ustella Cl.
Oecophoridae
- 1 March Tubic Diurnea fagella D. & S.
Alucitidae
- 1 Twenty-plume Moth Alucita hexadactyla Linn.
Pterophoridae
- 1 Common Plume Emmelina monodactyla Linn.
Thyatiridae
- 1 Yellow Horned Achlya flavicornis Linn.
Geometridae
- 1 Shoulder-stripe Anticlea badiata D. & S.
- 1 Double-striped Pug Gymnoscelis rufifasciata Haw.
- 1 Oak Beauty Biston strataria Hufn.
Noctuidae
- 57 Small Quaker Orthosia cruda D. & S.
- 38 Common Quaker Orthosia cerasi D. & S.
- 3 Clouded Drab Orthosia incerta D. & S.
- 1 Twin-spotted Quaker Orthosia munda D. & S.
- 5 Hebrew Character Orthosia gothica Linn.
- 4 Early Grey Xylocampa areola Esp.
- 1 Chestnut Conistra vaccinii Linn.
- 1 Dotted Chestnut Conistra rubiginea D. & S.
Wednesday 25 March 2009
Weather: Intermittent showers and clear skies, 6°C, very windy.
Slightly milder last night and the moths seemed to respond. Nothing new but there was a pug of some sort flying around the trap late last night but by the time I was equipped to catch it, it had disappeared - damn.
Tortricidae
- 1 Sallow Button Acleris hastiana Linn.
Pterophoridae
- 1 Common Plume Emmelina monodactyla Linn.
Geometridae
- 1 Shoulder-stripe Anticlea badiata D. & S.
- 1 Oak Beauty Biston strataria Hufn.
Noctuidae
- 24 Small Quaker Orthosia cruda D. & S.
- 23 Common Quaker Orthosia cerasi D. & S.
- 3 Clouded Drab Orthosia incerta D. & S.
- 1 Twin-spotted Quaker Orthosia munda D. & S.
- 3 Hebrew Character Orthosia gothica Linn.
- 2 Early Grey Xylocampa areola Esp.
Tuesday 24 March 2009
Weather: Clear, 3°C, very windy.
Not a great night and the catch was just about what you’d expect as a result. I nearly didn’t bother.
Pterophoridae
- 1 Common Plume Emmelina monodactyla Linn.
Geometridae
- 1 Shoulder-stripe Anticlea badiata D. & S.
- 1 Oak Beauty Biston strataria Hufn.
Noctuidae
- 17 Small Quaker Orthosia cruda D. & S.
- 3 Common Quaker Orthosia cerasi D. & S.
- 1 Clouded Drab Orthosia incerta D. & S.
- 1 Hebrew Character Orthosia gothica Linn.
- 1 Chestnut Conistra vaccinii Linn.
Monday 23 March 2009
March Tubic - Diurnea fagella
Weather: Mainly cloudy, windy, 5°C.
At last! a March Tubic, well two actually, I have been wondering for some time where this species had got to, last year the first one showed up in January and was a fairly regular visitor to the trap until 27 March. Must surely have been held up by the cold weather earlier in the year. All in all a pretty good night with eleven species and a record Small Quaker catch (why was I worried?)
Oecophoridae
- 2 March Tubic Diurnea fagella D. & S.
Tortricidae
- 1 Sallow Button Acleris hastiana Linn.
Pterophoridae
- 2 Common Plume Emmelina monodactyla Linn.
Geometridae
- 1 March Moth Alsophila aescularia D. & S.
- 2 Shoulder-stripe Anticlea badiata D. & S.
Noctuidae
- 51 Small Quaker Orthosia cruda D. & S.
- 23 Common Quaker Orthosia cerasi D. & S.
- 1 Clouded Drab Orthosia incerta D. & S.
- 4 Hebrew Character Orthosia gothica Linn.
- 5 Early Grey Xylocampa areola Esp.
- 1 Satellite Eupsilia transversa Hufn.
Sunday 22 March 2009
Dingy Flat-body - Depressaria daucella
Weather: Starting clear but becoming cloudy and fairly windy, minimum temperature 4°C.
Small Quaker numbers continue to grow but there wasn’t much else except for a Dingy Flat-body which, at first I presumed was another Common Flat-body but on closer examination and some irritatingly poor photography proved otherwise.
On a slightly different note, during this past week I have seen my first butterflies of the year; on Monday (16 March) a Brimstone and Peacock, Friday a Small White and then yesterday a Comma. Not too surprising given the weather but a promising sign of things to come nevertheless.
Oecophoridae
- 1 Dingy Flat-body Depressaria daucella D. & S.
Pterophoridae
- 3 Common Plume Emmelina monodactyla Linn.
Geometridae
- 3 March Moth Alsophila aescularia D. & S.
Noctuidae
- 32 Small Quaker Orthosia cruda D. & S.
- 13 Common Quaker Orthosia cerasi D. & S.
- 4 Hebrew Character Orthosia gothica Linn.
- 2 Early Grey Xylocampa areola Esp.
Saturday 21 March 2009
A frosty night with clear skies was forecast with the temperature set to fall to about -4°C so there seemed little point to any trapping. What better way of celebrating the night of the Vernal Equinox?
Friday 20 March 2009
Weather: Partly cloudy and windy at first, clearing, -2°C.
More or less the same selection as last night but with lots more Small Quaker.
Pterophoridae
- 1 Common Plume Emmelina monodactyla Linn.
Geometridae
- 1 Oak Beauty Biston strataria Hufn.
Noctuidae
- 27 Small Quaker Orthosia cruda D. & S.
- 4 Common Quaker Orthosia cerasi D. & S.
- 1 Clouded Drab Orthosia incerta D. & S.
- 5 Hebrew Character Orthosia gothica Linn.
Thursday 19 March 2009
Weather: Clear, -2°C, fairly windy.
Despite the frost we still had quite a few moths but little variety.
Geometridae
- 1 Oak Beauty Biston strataria Hufn.
Noctuidae
- 9 Small Quaker Orthosia cruda D. & S.
- 7 Common Quaker Orthosia cerasi D. & S.
- 2 Clouded Drab Orthosia incerta D. & S.
- 2 Hebrew Character Orthosia gothica Linn.
Wednesday 18 March 2009
Cold windy, and frankly, not really worth it.
Tuesday 17 March 2009
Weather: Clear, cold (0°C), still.
This time the conditions had a slightly more predictable result. Still, we had more than thirty moths, not much variety though.
Geometridae
- 1 Oak Beauty Biston strataria Hufn.
Noctuidae
- 15 Small Quaker Orthosia cruda D. & S.
- 11 Common Quaker Orthosia cerasi D. & S.
- 2 Clouded Drab Orthosia incerta D. & S.
- 4 Hebrew Character Orthosia gothica Linn.
- 1 Early Grey Xylocampa areola Esp.
Monday 16 March 2009
Shoulder-stripe - Anticlea badiata
Weather: Clear, misty by dawn, 2°C, still.
Another night that defied expectation, everything was primed to be a somewhat less than ideal night, yet despite this, relatively large numbers of moths were prepared to ignore the conditions and get on the wing. A lovely fresh Shoulder-stripe being the most notable.
Pterophoridae
- 1 Common Plume Emmelina monodactyla Linn.
Geometridae
- 1 March Moth Alsophila aescularia D. & S.
- 1 Shoulder-stripe Anticlea badiata D. & S.
- 1 Oak Beauty Biston strataria Hufn.
- 1 Dotted Border Agriopis marginaria Fabr.
Noctuidae
- 14 Small Quaker Orthosia cruda D. & S.
- 15 Common Quaker Orthosia cerasi D. & S.
- 6 Clouded Drab Orthosia incerta D. & S.
- 8 Hebrew Character Orthosia gothica Linn.
- 3 Early Grey Xylocampa areola Esp.
Sunday 15 March 2009
Weather: Mainly clear, (forgot to check temperature, but it was pretty chilly), light breeze.
Although I’m not sure what the temperature actually was, it felt colder than it did the night before - there was a very slight frost first thing - but despite this we had lots more moths, doesn’t really seem to make sense. Hugely irritatingly, what undoubtedly, would have been a new species for the list, a tiny micro of some sort, eluded either identification or photography by "playing dead" right up until the moment I was about to click the shutter-release (I even thought it probably was dead when I found it in the trap), at that moment it started bouncing around like something deranged and fell down a crack in the patio never to be seen again. My suspicion was it was a Ypsolopha Sp. owing to its posture (whaen apparently dead, of course) but heh, I’ll never know. Also the year’s first Twenty-plume Moth, but this was at the kitchen window rather than in the trap.
Oecophoridae
- 2 Common Flat-body Agonopterix heracliana Fabr.
Tortricidae
- 1 Rusty Oak Button Acleris ferrugana D. & S.
Alucitidae
- 1 Twenty-plume Moth Alucita hexadactyla Linn.
Geometridae
- 1 March Moth Alsophila aescularia D. & S.
- 1 Oak Beauty Biston strataria Hufn.
Noctuidae
- 19 Small Quaker Orthosia cruda D. & S.
- 10 Common Quaker Orthosia cerasi D. & S.
- 6 Clouded Drab Orthosia incerta D. & S.
- 8 Hebrew Character Orthosia gothica Linn.
- 3 Early Grey Xylocampa areola Esp.
Saturday 14 March 2009
Hebrew Character - Orthosia gothica
Weather: Mainly clear, 4°C, light breeze.
All just a little bit too monochrome and one dimensional today. An unusually marked Hebrew Character, with creamy coloured outer edges to its forewings, was the only highlight.
Noctuidae
- 26 Small Quaker Orthosia cruda D. & S.
- 6 Common Quaker Orthosia cerasi D. & S.
- 1 Clouded Drab Orthosia incerta D. & S.
- 6 Hebrew Character Orthosia gothica Linn.
- 3 Early Grey Xylocampa areola Esp.
- 1 Chestnut Conistra vaccinii Linn.
Friday 13 March 2009
Yesterday’s Diamond-back Moth - Plutella xylostella
Weather: Overcast, mild, 8°C, breezy.
Another good night with plenty of moths showing up.
Around lunchtime yesterday I spotted a tiny moth on the kitchen ceiling which proved to be a Diamond-back Moth. After a little bit of research I discovered that it was somewhat earlier than usual, according to Mike Wall of Hants Moths, a month earlier than any record for Hampshire but Colin Pratt tells me that it has been recorded in Sussex from mid February. Only problem is, that as it was found indoors and the larvae feed on vegetables it cannot be counted as a reliable record.
Oecophoridae
- 1 Common Flat-body Agonopterix heracliana Fabr.
Tortricidae
- 1 Rusty Oak Button Acleris ferrugana D. & S.
Thyatiridae
- 2 Yellow Horned Achlya flavicornis Linn.
Geometridae
- 1 March Moth Alsophila aescularia D. & S.
Noctuidae
- 12 Small Quaker Orthosia cruda D. & S.
- 15 Common Quaker Orthosia cerasi D. & S.
- 1 Twin-spotted Quaker Orthosia munda D. & S.
- 6 Hebrew Character Orthosia gothica Linn.
- 2 Early Grey Xylocampa areola Esp.
- 1 Satellite Eupsilia transversa Hufn.
- 2 Chestnut Conistra vaccinii Linn.
Thursday 12 March 2009
Yellow Horned - Achlya flavicornis
Oak Beauty - Biston strataria
Weather: Overcast, damp, mild, 8°C, light wind.
An ideal night, the moths are back, twelve species, two firsts for the year and the Small Quakers seem finally, to have got going (not in huge numbers, but I’m a little less concerned this morning). Cracking!
Oecophoridae
- 1 Common Flat-body Agonopterix heracliana Fabr.
Pterophoridae
- 1 Common Plume Emmelina monodactyla Linn.
Thyatiridae
- 1 Yellow Horned Achlya flavicornis Linn.
Geometridae
- 1 March Moth Alsophila aescularia D. & S.
- 1 Oak Beauty Biston strataria Hufn.
Noctuidae
- 6 Small Quaker Orthosia cruda D. & S.
- 5 Common Quaker Orthosia cerasi D. & S.
- 2 Clouded Drab Orthosia incerta D. & S.
- 1 Twin-spotted Quaker Orthosia munda D. & S.
- 4 Hebrew Character Orthosia gothica Linn.
- 1 Early Grey Xylocampa areola Esp.
- 1 Chestnut Conistra vaccinii Linn.
Wednesday 11 March 2009
Weather: Mainly clear, -2°C, slight breeze.
When I was setting the trap up at about half past five yesterday it was cloudy, mild and there was just a tiny bit of rain in the air, the rain got a little heavier and then stopped, the sky cleared and the temperature dropped like a stone.
Pterophoridae
- 2 Common Plume Emmelina monodactyla Linn.
Noctuidae
- 1 Small Quaker Orthosia cruda D. & S.
- 1 Twin-spotted Quaker Orthosia munda D. & S.
- 1 Hebrew Character Orthosia gothica Linn.
Tuesday 10 March 2009
Twin-spotted Quaker - Orthosia munda
Weather: 6°C, partly cloudy, heavy showers, windy.
The wind is really not helping things but at least it wasn’s quite as strong last night than it has been. Our regular selection of moths in the trap was supplemented this morning by a couple of Twin-spotted Quaker. Not quite the juicy identification problem I am hoping for but a new species for the year nevertheless. I could really do with a moth which means I have to spend at least a few minutes trying to identify it, something will come soon enough I’m sure, and then I’ll spend hours in a state of frustration wishing it hadn’t.
Tortricidae
- 2 Winter Shade Tortricodes alternella Linn.
Geometridae
- 1 Dotted Border Agriopis marginaria Fabr.
Noctuidae
- 2 Small Quaker Orthosia cruda D. & S.
- 6 Common Quaker Orthosia cerasi D. & S.
- 2 Twin-spotted Quaker Orthosia munda D. & S.
- 1 Hebrew Character Orthosia gothica Linn.
- 1 Satellite Eupsilia transversa Hufn.
Monday 09 March 2009
Very windy, clear and a light frost by morning, I think my decision not to trap was just about right.
Sunday 08 March 2009
Weather: 8°C, overcast with occasional light rain, clearing by dawn, very windy.
Too windy and the relative scarcity of Small Quakers seems to be continuing.
Tortricidae
- 1 Winter Shade Tortricodes alternella Linn.
Noctuidae
- 2 Small Quaker Orthosia cruda D. & S.
- 12 Common Quaker Orthosia cerasi D. & S.
- 3 Hebrew Character Orthosia gothica Linn.
Saturday 07 March 2009
Dotted Border - Agriopis marginaria
Weather: Cold (1°C) and clear at first, becoming mild and overcast by midnight, still.
I think the temperature rose too late for its effects to be felt, we did however do better than last night (not hard). March still has to really get going though. The photo above is of an unusually "smoky" Dotted Border, but is really more for the sake of having a photo on the page.
Oecophoridae
- 1 Common Flat-body Agonopterix heracliana Fabr.
Geometridae
- 2 Dotted Border Agriopis marginaria Fabr.
Noctuidae
- 1 Common Quaker Orthosia cerasi D. & S.
- 1 Hebrew Character Orthosia gothica Linn.
Friday 06 March 2009
Weather: -2°C clear, still.
While I was setting up the trap I was wondering what the point was, the likelihood of there being any moths flying on a night like this was going to be slim to say the least. An empty trap in the morning showed that, in fact, those chances were a big fat zero.
Wednesday 04 - Thursday 05 March 2009
Gale force wind, heavy rain, snow, sleet and hail, winter appears to have returned with a vengeance.
Tuesday 03 March 2009
Weather: Clear at first and 4°C becoming overcast with drizzle and about 8°C, fairly windy by dawn.
Nothing much to report again except, maybe, a Satellite, we haven’t seen one of those for a few days.
I am becoming intrigued by the low numbers of Small Quaker that we’re still seeing when compared with last year’s records. While the records for Common Quaker are fairly consistent, the Small Quaker population seems hardly to have got going.
Geometridae
- 2 Dotted Border Agriopis marginaria Fabr.
Noctuidae
- 2 Small Quaker Orthosia cruda D. & S.
- 11 Common Quaker Orthosia cerasi D. & S.
- 1 Satellite Eupsilia transversa Hufn.
Monday 02 March 2009
Weather: Clear, 2°C, still.
Well, at least we had more to show for it than we did last night.
Oecophoridae
- 1 Common Flat-body Agonopterix heracliana Fabr.
Tortricidae
- 1 Winter Shade Tortricodes alternella Linn.
Geometridae
- 2 March Moth Alsophila aescularia D. & S.
- 3 Dotted Border Agriopis marginaria Fabr.
Noctuidae
- 1 Small Quaker Orthosia cruda D. & S.
- 4 Common Quaker Orthosia cerasi D. & S.
- 1 Early Grey Xylocampa areola Esp.
Sunday 01 March 2009
Weather: Clear, frosty, 0°C, still.
Not exactly the most auspicious start to the month, but there again, given the weather, I guess we didn’t do too badly.
Tortricidae
- 1 Winter Shade Tortricodes alternella Linn.
Geometridae
- 3 Dotted Border Agriopis marginaria Fabr.
Noctuidae
- 2 Small Quaker Orthosia cruda D. & S.
- 1 Common Quaker Orthosia cerasi D. & S.
